Install Rules

First Visual

• Entire vehicle shall be looked at
• Nothing should appear as an “add on”.
• The entire installation should appear to be a cohesive unit. There should be no real distinction between an OEM panel and a custom panel in appearance.
• Everything should appear to have been constructed/fabricated with a single concept in mind.

Panel/Component Gaps

• Panel gaps should be consistent across all panels. Discrepancies allowed for functionality, such as a motorized door may have a slightly wider gap on the hinge side for clearance or other such functionality. If there is an intentional discrepancy that would not be readily apparent to the judge, it is the competitor’s responsibility to point that out. e.g. a particular panel may have a wider gap on one side to facilitate removing the panel via sliding it, thus making it a functional aspect that would not be readily apparent.
• Panels should be finished to some degree on the back side. Material cleanly trimmed, etc.
• Extra consideration for completely finished on both sides.

Second Visual

• Extra attention paid towards color coded wiring for overall theme purposes or for maintenance reasons.
• Routing has extra attention paid towards visual identification. e.g. Wiring is not all in one big bundle running through the car
• No excess wiring visible. Extra consideration for no excess wiring at all. May require photos for proof
• Consideration for support structures that are not bare material Fasteners should be of the appropriate type. Don’t use a flush head fastener to mount a component if the flush head serves no purpose.

• Tertiary fusing of equipment such as lower power devices like LED controllers, DACs, signal converters and so on (under 15 amps) are easily accessible and labeled
• Accessibility of equipment in cabin ** If an entire dash has to be removed to replace a speaker, that is not a good thing ** Wiring under carpet is not a consideration for ease of accessibility, but if carpet removed is the wiring easily understood what it is and where it goes
• Accessibility of equipment in main equipment area (amps, dsp, etc) ** No more than 2 panels to remove a component and in a reasonable time. ** Should not take 15+ minutes to remove beauty panels to check a piece of equipment

Interior and Equipment Area

• Extra care was taken to make it showroom worthy

Exterior and Engine Bay

• Extra care was taken to make it show car worthy
• Engine bay detailed
• Wheels & tires detailed
• Not using a white glove but will consider obvious visible issues

Verbal

• Up to 10 minutes
• Detailed explanation of installation and operation of vehicle
• Competitor doesn’t appear to have forgotten anything, doesn’t jump around from section to section, doesn’t stumble and so on

Non-Verbal

• Log should be of high quality, something worthy of showing to a spectator
• Photos should be well focused, properly lit and items in question should be easily discernable in the photo. For example don’t show a pic of an entire dash from the back seat if the intent is to highlight the install of a driver in the dash
• Secondary material does not have to have the same quality of presentation but should still be well organized, have good photos, etc. For example the primary log may be a custom printed and hard bound book while the secondary may be bound with plastic binding ring or a 3 ring binder or whatever

Non-Driving

• 0-5 for integrating aftermarket controls into install. ** controls are not free-floating ** Usage of controls is not awkward. The judge can sit naturally and operate the controls with no awkwardness or constant attention.
• 0-5 for custom controls or modified aftermarket controllers that aim to provide a full integrated experience. Track switching from within a single playlist and volume control can be done by no more movement than the fingers on a single hand.

Acoustic Treatments

• Custom use of treatments to combat issues or enhance sound quality.
• Above and beyond standard aftermarket treatments such as peel and stick tiles

Driver Mounting

• Drivers are mounted in such a fashion that allows easy maintenance.
• No self tapping style fasteners
• Proof of all driver mountings via photos if not easily seen

Scoring Guidelines * 0 point = No creativity, no visible ingenuity, very vanilla install with no visual cues * 1 point = Some thought but nothing extra.
* 2 point = Upgraded materials, extra thought into the theme of the install, some ingenuity * 3 point = Well thought out install front to back, new/uncommon use of materials and experimental install techniques * 4-5 point = New/uncommon concepts in installation, creative use of scientific theory in audio reproduction(steered arrays, servo driven noise cancellation), over and above

20 points max. Beyond removable panels, photos or other documentation to be provided for inspection on areas not readily accessible. e.g. under carpets, behind custom dashes, etc.